Gasket for valve cover

I have decided to change my valve cover gasket instead of paying someone to do it. But there are so many makes out there. Would any make do or should I look for a particular manu?

After doing a bit more research I found that OEM costs as much as Fel Pro but I then found Apex for about half their price. Hmmm.

 

I'm an OEM guy.

You just changing the valve cover gasket?

If going through the trouble I was also look at the spark plug tube, intake, washer seals etc. Just me.

 

Stay away from anything that is not silicone. APEX makes nice silicone gaskets. And while your at it remove the rear cam bearing caps and re-seal the covers at the back of the heads. Remove, clean and seal the outside diameter edge of the plug with Right Stuff Gasket maker and set it back into the head, be sure the oil drain hole is clear, then apply Loctite 515 Gasket Eliminator to the bearing CAP surface and torque the four screws to specification. The right stuff will squirt out and do a great job in sealing up those dam caps. Doing it this way is better than sliding them into the bore created when the cap is in place. Replace the metal retention plate and your ready to do the valve cover. Clean the cover with Dawn and get it clean of any oily residue. I use Halomar urethane blue gasket maker in the groove and on the face of the head where the gasket seats. The plastic alloy covers are piss-pore and move around a lot with thermal expansion so the Halomar which is a never go hard urethane sealant seems to work well in keeping the oil in and the dirt out. I think the mistake is trying to seal it up with RTV which I have tried and the Halomar seem to last longer. Also the ruddy heads have these troughs which harbor the oil from the cam buckets for the sims and these are right next to the gasket. So when I had my heads off I drilled holes in the casting to make these things drain. Big improvement in not having these things spew sooner than had been the case before the last gasket service and the rebuild.